SunSurfer Posted July 23, 2008 Report Share Posted July 23, 2008 "Drop a colour television set on the floor. It might work afterwards... but it's never quite the same." From a neurosurgeon I worked with a while ago who ran a Concussion Clinic, for people who just banged their heads, maybe didn't even lose consciousness. He saw a lot of people who were significantly but subtlely damaged by their head injury. They had long standing headaches, difficulty holding a train of thought (Just were did I get to in that column of numbers?), little things that aren't obvious from the outside but mean that you can no longer hold down your high performance, well paying job. In my own work, 12 years as an intensive care specialist and specialist anaesthetist, and a further 9 years just in anaesthesia (anesthesiologist, not nurse anaesthetist, for those of you from the USA) I have seen many people with severe brain injury from many causes. Most bits of the human body heal reasonably well with good care but the cells in the brain and spinal cord don't. This thread began with a description of a severe low speed head injury, from the description almost certainly caused by an extradural haematoma from a middle meningeal artery tear. Even going slowly, less than 10 mph, (less than 16 km/hr), or just an awkward fall while actually stopped, can generate enough force to produce a lethal brain injury from an extradural or other mechanisms. As the doctors and this guy's family clearly decided, there ARE fates worse than death. Please pardon me if I'm preaching to the converted, but if you aren't wearing a helmet for any speed sport you need to think very hard about why. You only get one brain, and brain transplants are not an option. A helmet will not make you indestructible, it will not necessarily save you if you smack into a tree or a lift pylon at 30 mph, but it gives you a bit more of a chance of surviving and having a life with some quality of existence. How much is your brain worth to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEJ Posted July 23, 2008 Report Share Posted July 23, 2008 Been doing it long before they started making all the different brands and styles. (Pre Sonny Bono) Back then it was just the bowling ball, available in black or white. Been a couple of times if I didn't have it I would probably be learning how to feed myself again. Haven't been able to find one I don't overheat in regardless of how many vents it has, but that's a small price to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjvircks Posted July 23, 2008 Report Share Posted July 23, 2008 Haven't been able to find one I don't overheat in regardless of how many vents it has So... does this qualify you as a hot-head? :) BJV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEJ Posted July 23, 2008 Report Share Posted July 23, 2008 I like to think of it as "High Metabolism". Seriously, I never wear a jacket unless it's snowing, just a high tech long sleeve tee and maybe a fleece vest if it's really cold. Took a jacket to SES last year and only wore it once during first tracks. Turned into a sweatball on the first run. Pulled it of in the gondola and my entire shirt was steaming. By the time we got to the top my shirt was dry. Love that polypropylene material! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastcoasticerider Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 I always wear a helmet after hitting a wet patch of deceptive looking ice while going into a turn.Nice conk on the noggin.tweetybirds and all. Now I know where those guys get those cool ideas for graphics in the old cartoons...Plus the new helmets let you hook up your iPod and listen to cool pre-hendrix surf music . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnisiWaya Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 In my 42 years of teaching I have found that the company coat is a go there target for out of control skiers and boarders. they see it and just never look anywhere else so guess where they go. now with us carving and using the whole trail instead of going straight down the mountain we are always NOT Seen by the general blinders on looking tat the lodge at the bottom public. However Teaching makes you into the perfect target especially if you are teaching a class at the time. The four worst getting run down incidents I have had were all adult skiers teaching there children them selves when they were not able to control thier own speed and direction. The other problem is that when teaching, you are watching your students. So you have tripled your chances of catching an edge, falling over failing to load yourself on the chair successfully and more. Many of my fellow snowboard staff members can tell stories about thier worst falls occurring while teaching on the beginner slopes. Then there was my good friend Al Fontee. we taught many years together at Sunapee and then Ragged mts. Some 8 years ago even though he always wore his helmet while teaching. He was not wearing it one friday afternoon as he was just making a couple of easy runs. FAther and Daughter pulled out in front him without looking up hill. In avoiding the ten year old girl he lost control and went into the trees. Concussion kept over in Hospital finally sent home on Sunday. Died that night from the concussion. I still miss him. So Carvers are targets on the hill. A company coat makes you a day glow target. I don't even get in the lift line without a helmet on. Have had helmet hit by ski falling on it in the lift line because some Adult idiot, with more money than brains, was showing off his new bindings to his buddy's kid and dropped the ski. Boris I'll bet you have some good ones to tell as I understand the lift lines in eastern Europe are beyond description. Grandfather Wollf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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